Florida Showdown: Indigo Snake vs. Python Battle – Winner EATS All!

Sometimes, even predators become prey. That’s what happens in the video below when an indigo snake runs across a newborn Burmese python in the wild. Both of these snakes are non-venomous, so once the fight begins, it is all a matter of strength. And the stakes couldn’t be higher: winner EATS all! Watch the full video at the end of the article to see for yourself how this indigo snake – python battle turns out.

Contender #1: The Indigo Snake

Indigo snakes eat many different kinds of animals, ranging from fish and amphibians to mammals and birds, but they will also snack on reptiles – including other snakes. The indigo snake is found in southern North America and in Mexico. They aren’t aggressive toward people and are sometimes even kept as pets. Their toothy bites can be painful but are not venomous.

One of the advantages this snake has over other snakes is that it is resistant to snake venom. This means that when a fight occurs, everything is left up to whichever of the snakes is strongest. As indigo snakes can be quite big – growing up to nine feet at times – strength isn’t a problem.

Contender #2: The Burmese Python

Burmese pythons, as the name suggests, are native to Southeast Asia, not Florida. They are relatively docile toward humans and so have become a popular species as a pet. They have become an invasive species multiplying rapidly in Florida since Hurricane Andrew demolished an exotic snake breeding facility in 1992, allowing pythons to escape into the Everglades. These numbers have been bolstered by pet owners releasing overgrown or unwanted snakes into the wild. As a result, pythons are fast becoming the apex predators of the Everglades, with numbers in the hundreds of thousands.

An adult Burmese python would have no problem winning a fight with an indigo snake. After all, they can grow over 20 feet long! They eat birds, mammals, amphibians, and other reptiles, but large adults also prey on deer, pigs, and alligators. Pets and children can be in danger from large pythons. Their hatchlings are another story. They are only 10-30 inches long and prey on insects, amphibians, small reptiles, birds, and rodents. In the video below, the indigo snake is matched up against a young python, so we have a more equal match-up. And it’s anybody’s guess who will be the diner, and who will be the dinner!

The Fight

SPOILER ALERT: Watching the video below, remember that when Burmese pythons hatch, they tend to each go their own way. Unfortunately for this one, the indigo snake is on his trail and the hunt begins. Before too long, the indigo creeps up on the inexperienced python and swiftly snatches it by the throat. The indigo snake blocks the airway of its prey and a struggle begins.

Burmese pythons are strong, but this is only a hatchling. It tries to fight back, but the indigo snake has an effective strategy. It grabs its prey by the head or neck and allows it to struggle until it becomes too tired to fight. In this contest, the indigo snake consistently pins down the struggling newborn, and before too long, the baby Burmese python just can’t struggle anymore. The patient and victorious winner drags its snake dinner to its lair where it swallows the python while it is still alive.

It’s a cruel and distressing ending for snake lovers, but perhaps less so when we keep in mind the destruction invasive pythons do to the fragile Everglades ecosystem and the danger they can pose as adults to creatures of all size, including humans. The indigo snake has long been a useful species to mankind and the environment by controlling the population of rodents and snakes, including venomous ones. Preying on pythons is just another way indigo snakes help preserve a necessary natural balance.

See the full video for yourself below: